At the moment I'm collecting resources for a very last-minute fall and winter tree study. I'll post those plans when they're complete, but in the meantime I wanted to share what I've discovered thus far.

A tree and forest study for younger kids can be found at Small Things; Pinterest also has some fun ideas. Exploring Nature with Your Child by Dorothy Edwards Shuttleworth has a lovely chapter entitled "Trees and How to Know Them" and the second and/or third book below would be perfect.

This was all hastily pulled together, a mere two weeks ago, because I was far too busy enjoying our summer break. There are a few small details that I'm still working on, but I'm mostly pleased with M's schedule this year. For the first time, she'll be my only student at home and she's quite excited about that!

I definitely have obsessive tendencies when it comes to planning our curriculum and at the moment I'm completely obsessed with audio. It started when planning literature for my high schooler next year, when I realized that there were recordings made of authors reading their own work:

Caedmon was formed in 1953 by college graduates Barbara Holdridge and Marianne Roney. Its first release was a collection of poems by Dylan Thomas as read by the author himself. The company went on to record other notable writers reading their own works, such as W. H. Auden, Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein and many more. The label expanded further to encompass other types of spoken word recordings, including children's stories, speeches, plus English- and foreign-language classics.
(Source)

Adventures in Research - Sponsored by Westinghouse, Adventures of Research was broadcast from 1946 into the 1950s. Historically accurate, these fifteen-minute shows are highly entertaining and a fantastic way to learn about scientific discoveries throughout history.

Biographies in Sound: An excellent hour-long documentary radio program that was produced in the 1950s - audio biographies include F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis,Carl Sanburg, Thornton Wilder, Frank Lloyd Wright, etc.

Naropa Institute Archives: Contains over 5,000 hours of readings, lectures, performances, seminars, panels and workshops conducted at Naropa by many of the leading figures of the U.S.literary avant-garde (Kerouac, Ginsburg, Burroughs, etc.).

Hey, Hey LBJ...Songs of the U.S. Anti-War Movement (1967 - Crisis Records, Monterey Park, CA) *Song descriptions are from the back of the album cover.

Ship Ahoy - "Ship Ahoy" was provoked at an anti-war demonstration. A heckler submitted that well honed ethereal question: "Sure we want out...but how do we get out?" "By boat," replied the demonstrators.

Empty - "Empty" is an on-the-spot interview with the individual citizen of Vietnam and his dilemma; which is to live in spite of U.S. aid, and Marshall Ky's ambitions. Survival is his way of life. His modern history documents that his current war has endured for a hundred years.

The Dean Rusk Song - "The Dean Rusk Song" sings for itself, but its touchstone is worth reciting: New York Times, January 26, 1966, page one..."Weary, Rusk Tells of World's Mischief." "Weary looking and harried, Secretary of State Dean Rusk offered the House Foreign Affairs Committee this wry comment on the troubles that beset him: 'The world is round. Only one third of the human beings are asleep at one time, and the other two thirds are awake and up to some mischief somewhere.'"

Hitler Ain't Dead - "Hitler Ain't Dead" was generated durin gthe Dominican crisis. LBJ received a rousing hand from 4,000 labor leaders, when he quoted a 19th century Senator, George Frisbie Hoar: "I have seen the glories of art an architecture, and mountain and river. I have seen the sunset on the Jungfrau, and the full moon rise over Mont Blanc. But the fairest version on which these eyes ever looked was the flag of my country in a foreign land."

Just Another Day - "Just Another Day" is a heart-blow in the solar region. Student demonstrations forced the Board of Trustees to get the University of Pennsylvania out of the Germ Warfare research business. The song grew out of the two year fight.

R. and R. - "R. and R." is G.I. jargon for 'Rest and Relaxation.' The G.I. in this song has a few comments to make, apropros of the status quo.

Hands Off - "Hands Off" is dedicated to the G.I.'s couragous enough to oppose the war and take the consequences. Privates Petrick, Johnson, Mora, Samas, and Capt. Levy...and the many more to come.

Quiet Sound - "Quiet Sound" has an evocative and haunting melody. Bill's mother participated in a silent WSP demonstration in February, 1965 when the bombings of North Vietnam began. Since then the silence has declined.

And Freedom Too - "And Freedom Too is a Groove In. President Eisenhower, in 1953, confided: "Now let us assume we lost Indo China. If Indo China goes, several things happen right away. The peninsula, the last bit of land hanging on down there, would scarcely be defensible. The tin and tungsten that we so greatly value from that area would cease coming. So when the U.S. votes $400,000,000 to help that war, we are not voting a giveaway program. We are voting for the cheapest way that we can prevent the occurence of something that would be of a most terrible significance to the U.S.A., our security, our power and ability to get certain things we need from the riches of the Indo-Chinese territory and from South-East Asia."

Exploitation Blues - "Exploitation Blues" is what they have all over the world where the U.S. exports freedom and justice, and an equal opportunity to be napalmed in your yard.

Hey, Hey LBJ - "Hey, Hey, L.B.J." is an offspring of the chant punctuating the April 15th Spring Mobilization in New York and San Francisco

Compiling these playlists was an educational experience, to say the least! I had no idea there were so many Cold War-themed songs out there (here is a categorical list) - and covering such a range of genres.

I'm a left-leaning Catholic mama of four teenagers (homeschooling one), who is passionate about books, art, all things vintage, nature, and so much more. Our learning is holistic and classically-inspired, with the goal of nurturing curiosity, creativity, and a lifelong love of learning.